Dell Latitude 5480

This isn't necessarily a I need help post but more of a sharing post if anyone is interested in my opinion. Over the years, I've drifted to Lenovo computers and have been very happy with them.

My mother was having issues with her laptop (crappy HP Stream) so I hit Amazon and found a "renewed" Dell Inc. Latitude 5480, Intel Core i5-6300U, 32 gigs RAM, SAMSUNG 256.05 GB solid state drive, Win 10 Pro and the cellular sim option in it for $200. The only issue I've found is one of the USB ports is wonky but no big deal.

I bought my Lenovo ideapad (same drive size as the Dell, Intel Pentium Silver N5030) the same year the Dell came out and have really liked it. For an inexpensive laptop, it's pretty good. But this Dell is so, so much better, even used - and considering what it cost new, not surprising. What I do to preserve the life of the solid state drives is use a large SDXC card and have all new programs installed on it and have offloaded documents, downloads, photos and video folders on it. Using Crystal Disk Info app, the Lenovo is at 87% health and the Dell at 89%. The Lenovo is pretty good but builds up heat fast when running videos. The Dell not at all.

The Dell (and I am NOT a Dell fanboy) hasn't gone past 89 degrees (the Lenovo will hit 120 + very quickly, and start missing video frames like crazy) no matter how high of an HD video I watch and my racing games have virtually no lag. And the sound is night and day. The Dell has actual bass you can hear. This Dell is a beast of a laptop that well, mom ain't getting. She can have the Lenovo to check her emails.

Glad you found a good deal...and like that Dell.
I have always had Dells, although all were desktops. Got two refurbs over the years, and def. got my moneys worth both times.

What I would never do again is get an entry level computer of any sort, desktop or laptop.

Only had one problem with a BIOS update, and I cannot fault dell for that.

Hope your mom likes your old Lenovo.

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
What I would never do again is get an entry level computer of any sort, desktop or laptop.

Only had one problem with a BIOS update, and I cannot fault dell for that.

I think it was sometime between 2005-2010 that system minimums started getting very sketchy on being able to run the OS they were sold with effectively. I've been out of the loop for a while now though.

It's just to sell more cheap units to low-intensity users, but like everything else there is no guiding principle for providing quality products with honest marketing. Now you have to independently verify what the functional minimums are from others rather than relying on the manufacturer to be honest about them.

a reply to: billxam

The Dell (and I am NOT a Dell fanboy) hasn't gone past 89 degrees

If you are speaking Celsius , get a laptop cooler .
89C is above throttle point .

From a corporate IT standpoint, the latitudes are better.
They run better, last longer, and break less.

Corporate switched to buying Lenovo a couple years back after Dell has some supply chain issues, the amount of hours spent supporting them has nearly doubled.

All of my family runs old latitudes- my mothers is here for maintenance right now... warranty expired in 2014. I'm throwing $40 in ebay parts at it and she'll get another five or six years out of it.

There was a time before IBM sold out to China that the think pads were nice units, but Dell has got the mark via trial and error and the latitudes are where is at.
Most corporations cycle them out frequently enough you can get them second hand in ebay for a few hundred bucks and get 5-10 years out of them if you're not looking for much.

a reply to: Gothmog

That would be F but I don't know how crystal disk info determines the temprature or even if it's accurate. When the Lenovo hit 111 degrees F, all bets are off. I use a cooler and a fan blowing on the keyboard.

you are gonna wanna get the Lenovo cleaned and have new thermal paste applied. hitting 120c is not normal and can damage the laptop pretty badly.
I have an older dell that I had gotten from a family member (core 2 duo 4 gigs ram) it was hitting 100 to 110 before I changed the thermal paste and cleaned the dust. now it sits at 40 to 50 at max load.
one thing I will say about dells is that their software sucks and is more bloatware than actually helpful. a reply to: billxam

originally posted by: billxam
a reply to: Gothmog

That would be F but I don't know how crystal disk info determines the temprature or even if it's accurate. When the Lenovo hit 111 degrees F, all bets are off. I use a cooler and a fan blowing on the keyboard.

Throttle temps for both the CPU and/or the video chipset is about 83C - 89C .
At around 100C the system shuts down .
At 111F you have nothing to worry about.
My desktop idles at that .
Hits between 70C and 75C on demanding games .

I personally use HWMonitor as I have for many years.
I do use CrystalDisk info and Mark for HDDs and m.2s (health)